"We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop? "

I am so excited to be going home today. I definitely think that 18 days was too long. I can’t wait to sleep in my bed and see my dog. I have to go back to school tomorrow morning so I can’t pick him up until after that. :0(

This has been the most stressful vacation I’ve ever had. On the upside, I’ve done a lot of thinking about my next 6 months in Korea and what I need to do. I want to give it my all and ensure that I am asked to come back for another contract. I also need to take SEI 45 hour as well as the 120 hour TESOL course. I will do all of this within 6 months. That way, I have. Lot of options. I think that I want to stay in Korea for another year but just move to another area. If I stay with my current school, I want to find my own apartment. ( with either an extra room or a loft…preferably a nice loft. )
I am in a position to make some great things happen in these 6 months…there’s no way I’m dropping the ball on this.

We decided to go into the jungle to see the orangutans today but it is raining and the staff can’t get them to come out. I guess they just walk around the grounds.

I got a couple of pictures but there was not much going on without the orangutans around. We have another 30mins before the van pics us up to go back to the hotel. I’m ready now. We are sitting under a little shelter in the rain spraying ourselves with mosquito repellent. It’s cool to see the jungle but there is nothing else happening. I wonder if we will get our money back for this part of the package since we didn’t actually see any orangutans…?
Tomorrow is our last night here and Sunday evening we take off for Singapore.

Earlier today, we had breakfast at Old Town then did some shopping. I bought a bunch of shirts for cheap. I definitely can’t do much more shopping. Thankfully I had money set aside for this trip. :0)
More info to come.

Today we arrived in Kuching and there has already been drama. It is different here than the last city and I think it’s nice. My travel companion however, rarely has anything positive to say about anything. I am starting to get really tired of watching her tell people off and scrunch up her face.

Anyway, the place where we are staying is really cool. They have these little single rooms with glass bathrooms. It is a step above where we were before and the last place was nice in my opinion. There aren’t as many people staring here and everything is cleaner. I had no complaints about the last place but this is even better.

I have definitely had some time to think about changes that I want to make in my life this year. I definitely don’t want to be a bitter, negative,and angry person. I am seeing how annoying it is to be around people like that. The last few days have been filled with listening to arguments, watching her make faces at people,etc and it is making me think about what kind of person I want to be.

This is our last day in Kota Kinabalu and I have enjoyed it. There wasn’t as much to do as we thought there would be and everything is really expensive so we have done a lot of relaxing. The person I am traveling with is a little high strung and confrontational with everyone other than me so that can be a little awkward for me. She is also the type of person that will come into the room while im sleeping and turn on the lights…has her stuff spread out EVERYWHERE…etc.Don’t get me wrong, she is cool but there have just been some uncomfortable situations since we left home.

I started off with a lot of anxiety about this trip. I really haven’t been around the person that I am traveling with that much and I was afraid that it would be awkward or we would argue. That just goes to show how I normally expect the worst.

Things are good so far. I am typing this on my tablet on the plane. We were up at 5:30am so that we could catch the bus to the airport in time. We were in a rush to get to the gate because we were told that the gate was closing at 7:30am. We got there in time to board the plane and found our seats. I had this strange feeling that something was going to happen- I felt like someone was going to have a medical emergency and it happened. It was so strange. A woman passed out on her way back from the bathroom. So that was an interesting 6 hour flight to say the least.

Once we got to Kuala Lumpur and got off the plane, I wanted to sing and dance. It’s hot here! I didn’t get to enjoy it for long because we had a connecting flight to get to and there was immigration to deal with again.

I am now on my second flight going to Kota Kinabalu. It will be dark when we get there so we probably won’t do much tonight but once we get settled we will discuss what we want to do tomorrow.

I am looking forward to having a great time. Im a little bummed about leaving my pup behind but the people at the pet hotel have been sending me pictures and messages to show that he is doing fine.

I’m not a big drinker and sometimes that’s a problem for other people. Oh well. There are three reasons why I don’t really drink much. The first is because I was raised in such a way that made me feel like alcohol was not a big deal. My father would come home and have his evening cocktail and when I was little, he would allow me a sip of his beer here and there. Some people might say that’s awful but I really do think that because alcohol wasn’t presented to me as this dangerous thing that had to be kept from my sight, I understood that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. When we travelled to Jamaica in the summers, it was normal to see a child drinking a beer. Don’t get me wrong, I had my moments as a teenager when I would sneak a swig of alcohol but those moments were few and far between because I just wasn’t that interested.

Another reason is because I have seen what alcohol does to people who can’t control their urges to drink. I’ve watched people drink to get away from their problems, become violent from drinking, get touchy-feely from drinking, die of complications from heavy drinking, etc. It jus isn’t attractive to me.

My last reason is because I don’t like feeling like I’m not in control of myself. I hate the thought of being so drunk that I do something really stupid or dangerous. I’m also one of those people who is really afraid of vomiting ( esp. in public) so I like to stay away from too much alcohol.

I think that it’s amazing how they are so strict on laws against marijuana but you can buy alcohol all day and everyday and drink yourself into a stupor and end up killing yourself and others in an accident. I understand that marijuana is a gateway drug and all I think that alcohol can be too. I think that if they can approve its use for sick people, they ought to just legalize it and ration it out. ( That way they can kind of control it.) The effects of smoking it aren’t any worse than that of smoking cigarettes. That’s another thing….those are perfectly legal and available even though they kill people but people can’t get marijuana when they want it.

Don’t misunderstand me, I do not use any illegal substances but I also don’t see what the big deal is. Legalize it already and that will get rid of some of the problems. Some people may think that makes me an awful person but I think that unless there is some kind of big threat from it, people should be able to make their own decision about it. I mean, alcohol and cigarettes are bad for us and we can get that any time we want!

These are some of the status updates from former students of mine. These students are still in high school in Arizona and I seriously worry about the state of education there. These kids believe everything they see on Google when they type something in! They have no concept of what it is to do research with BOOKS instead of Wikipedia. I absolutely LOVE technology but I’m also glad that I learned how to write and do research properly before all of this technology completely took over. That needs to still be a priority in the classroom and it’s part of the reason that I did weekly journals in my class. The kids were always complaining that it was a dance class and there shouldn’t be any writing but I saw their writing improve! NOW they understand!

Here is an update that I posted in response to all of the nonsense I was seeing:

“Please ladies and gentlemen…..don’t accept everything you see on TV or the internet as the truth! Do your own research somewhere other than Google! Pick up a BOOK…you know…that thing with the paper sticking out of it that has words on it. If you are going to search the internet, use sources that are scholarly….like University websites and library databases. Start there….not Wikipedia or anywhere else where people can post whatever they want even if it’s not true. When you google stuff, over half of what you find will be someone’s personal opinion. Make informed decisions and comments…do not just believe the first thing that pops up!”

It blew my mind when I was living there to hear that there were students in our school who:

a) Didn’t know their left from right

b) Couldn’t self address an envelope because they didn’t know where to put the information OR they didn’t know their home address

c) Didn’t know the difference between they’re/their/there or your/you’re or right/write

d) Didn’t know the names of their teachers even after being in their classes for months

Here is another status update that I made in response to the spelling I saw on some pages:

” Hey guys? Let’s talk for a second…There- a place or to exist ” I want to go there” or ” There is a party down the street”Their- ownership ” They were shaking their butts”They’re- They + are ” They’re going to close early for the holidays” Your- Ownership- ” I really like your hair”You’re- You+Are ” You’re really getting on my nerves!”Right- The opposite of left or correct ” Turn right at t…he corner” or ” Your answer was right”….It’s not what you do with a pen or pencil on paper.I want you HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS to try harder with these things because in the real world, they don’t except proposals, contracts, paper,etc written in poor English or texting language. So u juss gotta l3t all dis kinda stuff go…. at some point. ( And stop adding extra Es to everything…that’s just annoying! (AF)”

There were a few students who had graduated who commented on this status to say that I was right and that they were having to completely change the way they wrote because they were now in college or working. I want to be able to teach them these things BEFORE they get into a situation where they absolutely HAVE TO change. That way, the transition is not so hard.

Sometimes I wonder what this world is going to be like once the Google Generation takes over. It’s a scary thought and I don’t say that as a put down to them but it’s true. I think that in places like Arizona, the educational system has failed them…a lot of the parents have failed them…and they have not worked up to their full potential because of laziness and priority problems….which comes back around to the parents.

Thinking about this makes me want to finish this Admin certificate and go back to the States to kick some butt…it’s something that I am considering since I am only one 45 hour course away from being able to get certified in the state of AZ. I think that from an admin position, I have the opportunity to reach out in so many directions: to students, teachers, parents, government,etc. I think it’s time to really think about this.

First of all, these are two tools that people like to use to justify taking away the rights of other people. If done right ( and fairly) these two concepts are BEAUTIFUL but we ( being the people we are) have turned them into something ugly and unpleasant. We have turned them into things that we can’t talk about in mixed company for fear of starting a fight. I hate how people have taken the Bible and twisted its messages around to justify the horrible things that they’ve done to other people.

Religion has always played a role in my life. I grew up in the Baptist church…sunday school, sunday service, vacation bible school…the whole shebang. Once I got old enough to make my own decision, I stopped going to church regularly. I didn’t like the way it made me feel. It wasn’t the Bible or the intended message that bothered me but the actions of the people in the church. I was amazed that one place could house so much gossip, anger, and deceit. I was taught that I could only come to church if I was wearing a nice dress and I had money in my pocket for offering. Sunday mornings turned into fashion shows and holy spirit competitions between the Pastor’s wife and the Deacon’s wife. ( Who can scream the loudest and jump the highest without actually feeling the holy spirit?!) I was not pleased.

When I started going back to church, it was at the request of my Mother. She had similar feelings to mine when it came to the churches she grew up going to and how church should be. She had found a church where the people were warm and inviting and nobody was made to feel like an outsider. The church had members from all walks of life…..young, old, gay, straight, married, single, conservative, liberal…everyone! This was my first taste of Unity church and I loved it. The messages were completely different. It was no longer ” Do right or you will burn in the bowels of hell” but ” How to live the happy and full life God wants you to have”. In addition to Bible study, you could take meditation and yoga classes there. You could learn more about The Law of Attraction! ( That concept still blows my mind!) It is totally normal to see a person walk into a Unity church on Sunday wearing jeans OR someone else wearing a nice dress because they understand that it DOESN’T MATTER! Their worship sometimes includes songs from artist like Michael Jackson or the Beatles that have messages that can be applied to life. ( At Unity in Phoenix, they did a 4 week special on the life messages hidden in the music of the Beatles!)

When I left NC, I immediately found the Unity church in Phoenix. At the time, there were 3 main Pastors…two of which were females who were married to each other. I didn’t attend every single Sunday but I was back in the church and loving it. I took classes, bought inspirational gifts in their store, meditated, and sang. THAT is what religion should be! It should be open to everyone and full of positive messages about life instead of making people feel like they aren’t worthy of God’s love.

About Me

I am a twenty-something African-American female living in South Korea and teaching English. I have a BS in Dance Education, a M.Ed in Educational Administration, and I’m working on a second Masters in Professional Counseling. I taught dance in public schools for 6 years before deciding to move to South Korea.